NEW YORK — Turns out Long Island City is prime real estate. Amazon has decided to set up shop in the booming Queens neighborhood as part of a plan to split its second headquarters between New York and northern Virginia, the company announced Tuesday.
The decision marks the end of a competitive nationwide search for Amazon’s newest home that lasted more than a year and attracted more than 200 bids.
The Seattle-based company says it will invest about $2.5 billion and create more than 25,000 high-paying jobs at each of its two new locations in Long Island City and Arlington, Virginia, a suburb of Washington, D.C.
Its $3.6 billion Queens project will eventually comprise at least 4 million square feet of commercial space on a swatch of waterfront property stretching along Vernon Boulevard within walking distance of a ferry stop, according to the deal between Amazon and city and state officials.
“When we start officially hiring here next year we will be able to attract top tier talent that will help us innovate on behalf of our customers for years to come,” John Schoettler, Amazon’s vice president of real estate, said at a news conference in Manhattan.
Amazon’s plans come amid concerns about overcrowding and strained infrastructure in the exploding neighborhood located just across the East River from Manhattan.
Mayor Bill de Blasio and Gov. Andrew Cuomo have been eager to draw Amazon to New York, saying the move would provide an economic boost. The project will bring an “unprecedented” number of jobs to the city and consolidate New York City as “a great international tech hub,” de Blasio said.
“Either you are part of the economy of tomorrow or you’re part of the economy of yesterday,” Cuomo said. “This is a competition, and for us it’s about being part of the economy of tomorrow. And Amazon no doubt is a big, big asset in the entire tech space.”
Amazon will benefit from nearly $3 billion worth of state and city incentives and generate $27.5 billion in tax revenue over 25 years for a nine-to-one return, the highest rate ever for a state economic development project, Cuomo said.
The deal also includes a slew of community benefits, including a site for a new school, public green space, room for a technology accelerator, job training efforts and job fairs for residents of the Queensbridge Houses, the nation’s largest public housing development.
Amazon’s headquarters will be developed through a general project plan, a process that will move more quickly than the city’s land-use review, officials said.
But Amazon’s plans have drawn concerns from several elected officials in Queens skeptical of giving the company big tax breaks to move to a neighborhood some say is bursting at the seams.
Some lawmakers also worry the massive project will circumvent scrutiny from the community the City Council, which generally has power over local land use matters.
“Amazon is one of the richest companies in the world, but you can’t put a price on community input, which has been missing throughout this entire process,” City Council Speaker Corey Johnson said in a statement.
“I find that lack of engagement and the fact that the negotiations excluded the City Council – which is elected by New Yorkers to guide land use projects with communities in mind – extremely troubling.”
Long Island City has seen a recent development boom, with about 3,000 units completed in the first half of this year and 3,300 more expected to hit the market by 2020, according to the data analysis website Localize.city.
More growth is likely on the way, as the de Blasio administration recently unveiled an investment strategy for the neighborhood that involves $180 million in new city funding.
Amazon will make payments in lieu of taxes stemming from the project that will put about $600 million into a fund for infrastructure improvements in the surrounding area, Deputy Mayor Alicia Glen said.
But concerned officials have questioned whether it’s wise to let a corporation of Amazon’s magnitude put further stress on the area’s infrastructure and resources while benefitting from huge tax breaks.
Not enough school seats, crumbling subways and a lack of health care are among the problems Councilman Jimmy Van Bramer and state Sen. Michael Gianaris cited. “It is unfathomable that we would sign a $3 billion check to Amazon in the face of these challenges,” said the lawmakers, both Democrats who represent Long Island City.
“We are witness to a cynical game in which Amazon duped New York into offering unprecedented amounts of tax dollars to one of the wealthiest companies on Earth for a promise of jobs that would represent less than 3% of the jobs typically created in our city over a 10 year period,” Van Bramer and Gianaris said in a joint statement.
Van Bramer and Gianaris are set to host a rally against Amazon’s move to the neighborhood on Wednesday along with activist groups.
(Lead image: Photo by David McNew/Getty Images)
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